China says its nuclear industry has made a fresh technological breakthrough, which, even if it doesn't immediately solve the country's energy needs, underscores Beijing's determination to be a leading font of knowledge about the controversial power source.

　　Ina Fassbender/Reuters游客在卡爾卡爾游樂園（Wunderland Kalkar）乘坐一個高空旋轉木馬。這里原本是一個歐洲快中子增殖反應堆，但從未投入使用，并最終被改造成游樂場。

　　中國宣布其核工業(yè)技術取得了新的突破。這即使不會即刻滿足中國的能源需求，也反映了北京在掌握這種爭議性能源相關知識方面領先于人的決心。

　　The China Institute of Atomic Energy said Thursday that a small, experimental “fast breeder” reactor outside Beijing had been hooked to the grid to produce electricity. Essentially, the tiny 20 megawatt nuclear plant '863' is now helping satisfy China's vast power needs.

　　中國原子能科學研究所周四說，位于北京郊外的一座小型實驗“快中子增殖反應堆”已經并網發(fā)電。這座功率為2萬千瓦的小型核電站（863項目）本質上已經在參與滿足中國巨大的能源需求了。

　　To supporters of nuclear power, fast-breeding is alluring. The idea is that it produces more plutonium than the plant needs to run, providing fissionable material usable elsewhere in the nation's nuclear program. For China, which is long on nuclear ambitions but short on uranium, it's an especially desirable technology.

　　對于核能支持者來說，快堆很有誘惑力。其想法是生產出超過電站運營所需的口元素，為中國核計劃的其他項目提供可使用的裂變材料。中國發(fā)展一直對發(fā)展核能充滿野心，但鈾資源不足，所以這種技術是它特別想要掌握的。

　　Yet the process hasn't proved workable on a large scale elsewhere. Fast-breeder programs have been abandoned in a number of countries, including the U.S., and the plants that remain are small. To some critics, it is a nuclear version of the “perpetual motion machine,” a seemingly problem-solving theory that doesn't work well outside the laboratory.

　　但這一工藝尚未證明能夠大規(guī)模地用在其他地方。包括美國在內的多個國家已經放棄快堆項目，而且快堆電廠的發(fā)電量仍然很少。對于一些反對者來說，它就是核能版的“永動機”，看起來好像能夠解決問題，但一出實驗室就不怎么管用了。

　　In a statement posted to its website (in Chinese) Thursday, China's atomic institute said the advantages of fast-breeder reactors are that they save uranium and reduce nuclear waste. “The establishment of sustainable development of nuclear energy is important,” the statement said, noting that a number of industry dignitaries were on hand for the announcement.

　　中國原子能科學研究所周四在官網發(fā)布聲明說，快堆的優(yōu)勢在于節(jié)省鈾資源，并減少核廢物。聲明說，“快堆技術的發(fā)展和推廣，……對核能的可持續(xù)發(fā)展具有重要意義”，并提到有多位行業(yè)重要人士出席了宣布儀式。

　　China's nuclear engineers, of course, are operating in the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster, a game-changing event that would seem likely to make the industry more risk averse. In days after Japan's March 11 earthquake-tsunami-nuclear crisis, Beijing defiantly pledged to continue with its huge nuclear rollout but quickly reversed course and said it would proceed cautiously.

　　眾所周知，中國核能工程師這些活動是在福島核災難發(fā)生后進行的。福島的災難意義重大，有可能讓整個行業(yè)變得更加謹慎。在日本3月11日地震、海嘯和核危機之后不久，北京依舊承諾繼續(xù)推進其巨大的核計劃，但很快改變口風說，它將謹慎推進。

　　In fact, the grid hook-up to the experimental fast-breeder plant may underscore that caution, as Beijing spent a year testing the plant's operations before linking it to the grid.

　　事實上，實驗快堆并網發(fā)電或許正是反映了這種謹慎，因為并網之前北京花了一年時間來測試這座電站的運營。

　　Among the practical challenges associated with fast-breeders: they are potentially riskier than more conventional light-water reactors, relying on cooling of the reactor core with a potentially dangerous loop of flammable sodium, rather than water. Plus, the fuel input is essentially weapons-grade uranium, which is difficult to handle compared with the chemically stable material that powers most nuclear plants, namely uranium dioxide.

　　快堆在實際操作中的挑戰(zhàn)有：它們依靠可能會有危險的易燃鈉循環(huán)、而不是水循環(huán)來冷卻堆心，風險可能高于常規(guī)輕水反應堆。另外，其燃料實質上是武器級的鈾元素，相比多數核電站所用、化學上比較穩(wěn)定的二氧化鈾更難處理。

　　The fast-breeder process also appears for China to be a degree more tricky to develop on a commercial scale than reprocessed fuel, another controversial technology the country says it is pursuing to address its uranium needs. Fast breeding is something new for China while the country's military has long-term experience with reprocessing.

　　對于中國來說，快堆工藝似乎也比燃料再加工更難實現商用化規(guī)模應用。燃料再加工是中國方面說它正在探索、用以解決其鈾需求的另一項爭議性技術?？於褜χ袊鴣碚f還比較新鮮，而中國軍方對于燃料再加工已有很長時間的經驗。

　　Mark Hibbs, a nuclear expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, says he visited China's fast-breeder reactor in the weeks after the Fukushima disaster. He describes it as a tiny “research reactor,” and says he got the sense officials planned to proceed extremely cautiously in building an 800-megawatt plant as scientists once discussed.

　　卡內基國際和平基金會(Carnegie Endowment for International Peace)核能專家海布斯(Mark Hibbs)說，他在福島核災難發(fā)生數周之后就參觀了中國的快堆。他說這是一臺小型“研究型快堆”，并覺得中國官員打算在建設科學家們曾經討論的80萬千瓦電站時極其穩(wěn)妥地推進。

　　Breakthroughs like fast breeder reactors might not result in commercially applicable programs any time soon, but in the age of Fukushima they may signal that China possesses world class nuclear power expertise. According to Mr. Hibbs, news of the efforts say, “Look, China is a high-technology nuclear country.”

　　像快推這樣的突破并不一定很快帶來商業(yè)化項目，但在福島時代，這些突破或許說明中國擁有世界級的核能專長。據海布斯說，有關這些努力的新聞都表明，看，中國是一個高科技核國家。